The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1887-05-22
Branch Offices.
SUNDAY. MAY %, 1887.

No man can dissent from anything that
that eloquent infidel of in fdels, Col. Rob
ert ]. Ingersoll, said at Morristown on
Thursday, on the question of liberty of
speech. But the case for which he pleaded
had aroused prejudices that even Inger-
soll's silver-voiced rhetoric could not over
come. TIE man whom he defended had
made vulgar parodies upon the religion of
Catholics and Msthodists and no man
who cares for his religion, Prot estant or
Catholic, could find it in his heart to for
give him for it. So the verdict of convic-
ton is not so much an affront to freedom
of speech as it is an expression Of Goa
tempt for the man who coarsely and bru-
tally assails the Faith that every Christian
holds sacred. No man has right to do
that-if he has the right he cannot ssuc-
cessfnlly maintain it in these parts at least.
Decorous expression of opinion, even
though it goes to the limit of assailing the
inspiration OF the Scriptures or denying
the greatness and goodness of God might
arouse differences, but COULD never here be
made the bass of prosecution. We have
respect for the skeptic whose dou BITS are
the result of research and thought and
study; but the wanton scoffer, who
coarsely derides community of believers
forthe one and only purpose of erousing
them to excitement and anger, need find
no fault if they ring him to his senses at
the end by the sharpest kind of Iebuke'
lis punishment is not for the opinion that
he holds, but for the affront of his m amer.
No one can deny the right of any man to
express an opinion. He may,if he believes
that those whom he confronts are deceived,
strive to enlighten them; but he should
show proper respect to their opinions while
attempting to enforce his own, and not at
tempt to bully rag them by ribald abuse OF
their idols. The man who does that CON-
mits an assault upon the sensibilities OF
his hearers as offensive and grieyous as an
assault upon their bodies could be. He
sows the seeds of riot and disturbance, and
should be SAT down upon as public NUS
ance. 1t might not be unsafe even to take
the broader ground that man has no
moral right, whatever his legal and consti-
tutional right may be, to assail the religion
of people. From the beginning of the
world down to to-day, religion has been
the hard-maid of civilization. We don't
care of what faith it may be-whether we
worship at the Gross or believe with Ma
hommed or accept the re inements OF Con-
fucius as our credible religion of state
is its strongest agency for the preservation
of peace and order and co rect living amt ng
the people. What if it is delasion, if it
produces beneficial results, if it makes a
man thei better or happier, fit gives him
motive TO live properly, or solaoe r
miseries that might otherwise drive him
mad Santa Claus is a delusion too !
But he would be healtless icono-
clast indeed who would destroy the
hoary- bearded image around which all the
beautiful Christmas dreams of his children
cluster. That noble old patriot and phil
osopher Socrates knew that the Grecian
mythology was naught but a dream; but he
said that his countrymen were the purer
and happier because of their belief, and he
could not lring himself to an exposition of
its emptiness. With the religions of to-
day, even the basest of them is helping
to work out the great problem of Creation
to purer and better results, and no man
should try to break the faith of the people
in them unless he has som ething more en-
nobling and civilizing to offer in their
places.
u,. Nrl n:- A,.. ;: